Chicago is a City with magnificent trees. We are surrounded by trees; rising high above houses and streets on parkways, living in yards, parks, forest preserves, public lands, on porches, in containers, even in homes. Conifers, deciduous trees, ornamentals, fruit trees. Trees provide both private and public benefits: ascetics, shade, energy savings, temperature control, food consumption, play-things (tree houses, swings), decorations, privacy, noise reduction, air filtration, erosion control, habitats for small animals, and sentimental value. Some have out-survived many buildings, multiple generations, droughts, disease, beetle infestations, and re-development.
While we may not take notice and fully appreciate the lifespan, size and resilience of some of these larger and older trees, we certainly tend to notice when one has been removed, left only by a large stump or a pile of sawdust/woodchips, where a goliath of a tree stood. It can leave a void on our landscape.
What happens when one of those trees is removed, damaged or reduced in size, more specifically when it is done without legal right? What is the remedy? How do we value what has been destroyed?
The Wrongful Tree Cutting Act (740 ILCS 185), provides damages for unlawfully removing limbs or trees, such as cutting your neighbors tree down or removing branches from their tree. If you intentionally or knowingly cause to be cut any timber or tree in Illinois, without legal right, you might be liable for monetary damages. Specifically, three-times (3x) the “stumpage value.”
The act was updated in July 2019 (HB3105) and now more precisely defines stumpage value. Prior to the amendment, stumpage value was broadly defined as “standing tree.” Courts were left to determine that value. The trunk formula method was previously used to determine stumpage value. See Marsella v. Shaffer, 324 Ill. App. 3d 134, 257 Ill.Dec. 753 (Ill. App. 2001). The International Society of Arboriculture (ISA) and the Council of Tree and Landscape Appraisers (CTLA) also recognized the trunk formula method as an appropriate method for valuing trees.
Using the trunk formula method an appraiser determines the replacement costs of the largest locally available tree of the same species and then makes adjustments for size, condition and location of the tree.
The location adjustment is subjective and can take into account: distance from house/structure, historical or cultural significance, shade factors, aesthetic location, erosion control, noise reduction, barrier to noise or sight (privacy), sentimental value, etc. The condition of the tree is also subjective, and may vary based on the expert making the determination. An expert appraiser can weigh all these factors in determining the stumpage value.
Tree size determination is less subjective, and calculated based on the cross sectional area of the tree not the height. A tree’s cross sectional area typically decreases depending on the measurement location, (1 ft. above ground level for trunks less than 12 inches in diameter and 4.5 ft. above ground for trees with diameters greater than 12 inches).
New Stumpage Value in Illinois:
The update to the Act narrows the definition of “stumpage value” for purposes of the Wrongful Tree Cutting Act. It is “the value of timber as it stands uncut in terms of an amount per unit of volume expressed as dollar value per board foot (board foot = 1 ft. long x 1 ft. wide x 1 in. thick) for that portion of a tree or timber deemed merchantable by Illinois forest products markets.”
This definition applies a more commercial approach to determining stumpage value, even though it is applicable to non-commercial trees. It appears that the trunk formula method is no longer applicable, as location is no longer relevant when determining “stumpage value” as to the Wrongful Tree Cutting Act. Although this approach makes the process of computing damages more objective, it may leave tree owners less compensated for their losses and does not take into account the significance of these trees in our daily lives and as structures of our communities.
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